This Bushwick Dress Designer Is Going Global

Maja Svensson, originally from Sweden, has been in America—right here in Brooklyn—for nearly nine years. Her clothing company, ELSA AND ME, which specializes in custom-designed dresses, has been thriving in Brooklyn. And, because of her Swedish roots, much of her business has come from her home country. Now, she’s decided to take ELSA AND ME global, by having an official soft opening in Sweden at the end of August.

For the soft opening, those in Sweden are encouraged to host fittings, inviting women to come to meet-ups to get measured for their own, customized dress. This is something that anyone in the New York City area can already do!

"It's basically like a luxury tupperware party. Although I don’t like the tupperware," Svensson told the Bushwick Daily.

She came from a small town in Sweden to America for the first time as an au pair in Houston, Texas. That experience opened up her world to culture diversity. “From there I've just wanted to see more and more of the planet,” she said. After that, she studied abroad in Mexico and New Zealand. Being global is her mission, and being based in New York has helped her get her business off on the right foot.

“New York is like the melting pot of all the cultures, so I think it's just that and I think that's like my personal inspiration too, is that I want to see more of the world,” Svensson said.

In fact, all of her ELSA AND ME designs are made at Panâh, a fashion house in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Just talking about the global aspect of things, the owners of the fashion house in Nairobi, one of them, she is from Siberia, and the other one, he's from Iran. So, it's quite the international crowd,” Svensson added.

Svensson also told Bushwick Daily that the ELSA AND ME site will have an overhaul this coming fall. There will be new fabric types and color options, as well as additional customization options for ELSA AND ME’s three dress silhouette options.

“Overall, there will be over a thousand variations that people can choose between from the three original silhouettes,” Svensson said.

That’s this global company’s mission, to let the customer design the dress to perfectly fit her body and be exactly what she wants.

Svensson started out with two designs, and since then, her newest silhouette, the Ida dress, and every customization option, has come from her customers.

Though Svensson is the entrepreneur and the mind behind her business, her customers are the guides.

“The idea is for people to really be able to design their own dress,” Svensson said.

We love seeing our beloved Brooklyn companies expand and go global.

For more information of hosting a fitting event in your home or office, go here. And for any readers located in Sweden, you can register your interest in hosting a fitting before the soft opening in August.